U.S. Embassy Town Hall Meeting

    "You live but once; you might as well be amusing."

-Coco Chanel

            So this evening proved very interesting, and let me step outside my comfort zone yet again. Badr drove me to the embassy, but only Americans could go to the meeting, so I was on my own!

            When we went to the grounds, we drove through 2 different check points with guards holding guns who asked us questions about our purpose. We drove past several embassies; the Italian Embassy, the Iranian Embassy, and even the Algerian Embassy. The embassy is heavily secured.

            We parked our car and Badr walked me to a building that had an American flag flying. I saw a very familiar sight once we approached the building, women who were not covered by a veil or an abiya! And that’s when Badr left and I stood in line alone. Badr’s friend Fawaz, who is both American and Saudi, was supposed to be coming later so I hoped he would show up quick!

            We had to hand in our passports so they could check our name off the list. They took our cell phones and we were required to walk through a metal detector. If that went well, you were free to walk into the U.S. Embassy building.

            I walked in and saw a long table filled with some of my favorites: cookies, brownies, American flag cake, and Coca Cola. Everyone in the room seemed like they knew eachother, and I had no one to talk to. Thankfully, after I got my plate of sugars, a nice man started a conversation with me. He was an American obviously, of Chinese decent. I met his 10-year-old daughter too. He assumed I was a teacher, because most of the women here are. When I revealed that I am a nurse, he said I was probably the first one!

            We talked for a long time and then I sat down with his daughter. We talked about all sorts of things like Disney World and our shared passion for sweets. I kept looking for Fawaz and he still wasn’t there! After about an hour, the meeting started. I saw Fawaz stick his head in the door, and then promptly disappear. So I stayed where I was and listened to the meeting.

            The people running the event talked about a few different issues like safety here in Saudi and our rights. Then they were open for questions. This was interesting. People gave advice, people complained about issues they’ve had here, and some actually had questions. The advice I caught was keep a low profile and don’t oppose the religious police.

            I quite enjoyed it. There was a sense of belonging. For the first time in a while, I felt like I was with people who knew exactly how I feel. They understand the difficulties and hardships we face sometimes. We would laugh together at things we had all encountered individually. It was great.

            At the end of the meeting, Fawaz showed up and said he thought the room was completely full. He was in the overflow room that I didn’t even realize existed. We grabbed some brochures about things Americans can get involved in and then we left. Then it was back to Saudi for me. I put on my abiya, my veil, and received my phone from security. Time to go home to my husband.